This week we saw a U.N. world meeting on climate change, held in Paris. We are hopeful that this gathering will make the people of the world more conscious of our situation and the need to address the problems that we face as a planet. We must do this realizing that our behavior will have very grave consequences for future generations. Perhaps we can hobble along with the status quo but, if so, in the future people will suffer mightily and they will hold us responsible for our inaction and indifference to their plight.

Hopefully, the Holy Father's Apostolic Letter "Laudato Si'" and this conference in Paris will help the people of the world take an honest look at this problem. It is also an opportunity for us to work together as human beings, despite political and ideological differences, to work for the common good -- the common good that will affect all our futures and our children's futures.

Memorial Mass

...while I was in Florida, I was asked to celebrate a Mass for the 5th anniversary of the death of Father Armando Llorente, the Spanish Jesuit who is one of the founders of the Agrupacion Catolica Universitaria.

Afterwards, there was an exhibit displayed on the life of Father Llorente. He was certainly an extraordinary man who, after the Cuban Revolution, came to the States and continued the Agrupacion here.

He was very instrumental in gathering families together and, through his retreats and preaching with the Agrupacion, he was able to keep these families intact and very much involved in the Church. They have a very strong community of families and their ability to pass the faith on to their children is just extraordinary. Out of those families have come many vocations. He did just an extraordinary work of evangelization and turned the Agrupados into evangelizers.

Feast of St. Andrew

Each year, when I am able, I like to join the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston for their celebration of the Feast of St. Andrew.

St. Andrew and St. Peter were brothers. St. Andrew is the patron of Constantinople and St. Peter is the patron of Rome and so there is a mutual celebration of their feast days among the Catholics and Orthodox in Boston. Typically on the Feast of St. Peter, June 29, a delegation of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis will come to our celebration of our patron feast, and then on the Eve of November 30, we will join them for their celebration of the feast of St. Andrew.

We had a Vespers celebration -- which lasts about an hour-and-a-half in the Orthodox Church. During the service I had an opportunity to greet the people and convey the greetings of the Roman Catholic community of Boston.

It's a very beautiful service that includes the blessing of the loaves and the procession of the icon of the saint.

Academy rededication

Wednesday (12/2), I was very happy to attend the rededication of the Lower Mills Campus of St. John Paul II Catholic Academy in Dorchester. The school looks absolutely beautiful.

The highlight of the morning was the testimony of seventh grader Orianeh Byron-Gabelus, who gave an extraordinary testimony of her faith. It was just a beautiful talk and I know everyone was very moved by it. We are very proud of the fact that St. John Paul II Catholic Academy is the largest primary school in Boston, bar none. The team who helped to raise the funds was from Pope St. John Paul II Academy school and Boston Catholic Development Services, including young people who are serving the church.